Freeing a stuck engine
(→Unsticking the impossible) |
Crashfarmer (Talk | contribs) |
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===Understanding water damage=== | ===Understanding water damage=== | ||
| − | If the water is from an external source such as rain, and it came into the air cleaner via the butterfly stud on the air cleaner, chances are there is only a small quantity in only a few of the engine bores. You can only have so many intake valves open at one time, and the water would have only migrated into those cylinder bores. Therefore, you could only have two or three stuck pistons at best, and not all of them. In such a case, the likelihood of freeing the engine is much better. On the other hand, if the engine had been flooded by rising flood waters, there is a chance that besides intake valves being open, the exhaust valves open too. To make matters worse, water also entered in the oil breather and is present in the oil pan. Flood waters also have a large presence of clay particles (or silt), chemicals of unknown nature, and varying acidity and | + | If the water is from an external source such as rain, and it came into the air cleaner via the butterfly stud on the air cleaner, chances are there is only a small quantity in only a few of the engine bores. You can only have so many intake valves open at one time, and the water would have only migrated into those cylinder bores. Therefore, you could only have two or three stuck pistons at best, and not all of them. In such a case, the likelihood of freeing the engine is much better. On the other hand, if the engine had been flooded by rising flood waters, there is a chance that besides intake valves being open, the exhaust valves open too. To make matters worse, water also entered in the oil breather and is present in the oil pan. Flood waters also have a large presence of clay particles (or silt), chemicals of unknown nature, and varying acidity and alkalinity. |
===Flood water damage=== | ===Flood water damage=== | ||
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#Don't forget to use horizontal force on the crankshaft. Tap the crankshaft at both ends with your dead blow hammer and oak block. Loosen off the rod bearings and tap with a bronze hammer to break the shell bearings loose. | #Don't forget to use horizontal force on the crankshaft. Tap the crankshaft at both ends with your dead blow hammer and oak block. Loosen off the rod bearings and tap with a bronze hammer to break the shell bearings loose. | ||
#After you've done all of the above, let 'er soak and then start over again. She'll loosen! | #After you've done all of the above, let 'er soak and then start over again. She'll loosen! | ||
| − | # Here's a trick I have used on motorcycle engines but am sure would work on any piston engine. After trying the | + | # Here's a trick I have used on motorcycle engines but am sure would work on any piston engine. After trying the aforementioned soaking to no avail, determine which cylinder is on the compression stroke by removing the spark plugs and using a compression gauge hose or other hose that fits snugly in the spark plug hole. Blow in the hose, if you can't easily then you have the one on compression stroke (if you use a gauge hose make sure it has no schrader valve in it). Break the porcelain out of an old spark plug and thread the metal body for a large grease fitting (1/4 NPT). Insert the plug in the compression cylinder and pump it full using a grease gun filled with cheap light weight grease (like white grease). Grease guns can develop thousands of pounds of pressure with no impact. Once the motor breaks free you can rotate the motor to squeeze most of the grease out of the spark plug hole. |
==Unsticking an engine in a manual transmission vehicle== | ==Unsticking an engine in a manual transmission vehicle== | ||
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